Monthly Archives: March 2015

Wouldn’t it be great if we could spot the bad applesbefore we consume them? Or even better: before they become bad?In recent years medical regulators around the world have been exploring ways to identify doctors who are performing poorly.

In the UKallapples are tested once a year via a process called revalidation. But some have said it will not detect poor doctorsas itsmain purpose is to gain patients’ trust. Others say it is meantto demonstrate whatgood apples look like. But one thing is for sure: Revalidationis labour-intensive and expensive.

“There is indeed an additional time cost,” said GP Dr Paresh Dawda in Australian Family Physican. “The appraisal meeting was usually 3 hours in length, and on average it took another 5 or 6 hours to collate the evidence and complete the forms, which is in keeping with an average of 9 hours found in…

In the ‘Blogging on Demand’ series you get to choose the topic. If you have a great idea you want the world to know about, feel free tocontact me.Last week members of the GPs Down Under (GPDU) Facebook group posted their red tape bugbears.Melbourne GPDrKaren Price, who is an admin of the group,suggestedto blog aboutthe issues that slow doctors down.

Patients are often understandably frustrated about waiting times. A couple of years ago I blogged about the reasons why I run late, including the daily healthcare bureaucracy doctors have to deal with. I’m sad to say the amount of red tapehasn’t changed.

Australia is not making good use of its medical workforce. Example:An estimated 25,000 patient consultations are lost every month whiledoctorsare making phone calls to the PBS authorityscript phone line.

Instead of reducing the amount of paperwork for doctors – so they can see…